thinking governmentally - American Heritage School

THINKING
GOVERNMENTALLY
or Else!
Restoring the Uniquely
Christian Idea of Living And
Learning by Reason and
Conviction
Essentials of Thinking
Governmentally
1. The necessity of Christian scholarship
2. Christian idea of man and
government
3. Internal and external property
4. Powers of government
5. Principled reasoning as Jesus
modeled
Robert Charles Winthrop
• All societies of men must be
governed in some way or other.
The less they may have of
stringent state government, the
more they must have of individual
self-government. The less they rely
on public law or physical force,
the more they must rely on private
moral restraint.
Winthrop 2
• Men, in a word, must necessarily
be controlled, either by a power
within them, or by a power without
them; either by the word of God,
or by the strong arm of man; either
by the Bible, or by the bayonet.
Winthrop 3
• Who does not perceive in all these
circumstances that our country is
threatened, more seriously than it
ever has been before, with that
moral deterioration, which has
been the unfailing precursor of
political downfall?
Winthrop 4
• And who is so bold a believer in
any system of human checks and
balances as to imagine, that
dangers can be effectively
counteracted or averted in any
other way, than by bringing the
mighty moral and religious
influences of the Bible to bear in
our defense.
Why we must learn to
think governmentally and
teach our children
NOAH WEBSTER
Buzz
What do YOU learn from this story?
What strong message and warning?
Two minutes to confer with buzz partner
Education defined by
Merriam Webster, 2014
“the action or process of educating
or of being educated; also: a stage
of such a process. The knowledge
and development resulting from an
educational process.”
?????
Education
Noah Webster 1828
• . . . all that series of instruction and
discipline which is intended to
enlighten the understanding,
correct the temper, and form the
manners and habits of youth, and
fit them for usefulness in their
future stations.
Sunday’s Sermon
• To give children a good
education in manners, arts and
science, is important; to give them
a religious education is
indispensable; and an immense
responsibility rests on parents and
guardians who neglect these
duties
First
THE NECESSITY OF CHRISTIAN
SCHOLARSHIP
Matthew Henry
Matthew 28:19-20
“Go ye therefore and teach all
nations . . .“
“bring the nations to be
His scholars.”
Scholar defined
SC̵HOL´AR, n.
[Gr. leisure, a school]
One who learns of a teacher; one who
is under the tuition of a preceptor; a
pupil; a disciple; hence, applicable to
the learner of any art, science or
branch of literature; a man of letters; a
man eminent for erudition; a person of
high attainments in science or
literature.
EXAMPLE OF
AMERICAN SCHOLAR
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
1767–1848
JQA to Father John
Braintree, June the 2d, 1777
“Dear Sir,
I love to receive letters very well, much better than I love
to write them. I make but a poor figure at composition; my
head is much too fickle. My thoughts are running after
birds’-eggs, play, and trifles, till I get vexed with myself.
Mamma has a troublesome task to keep me steady, and I
own I am ashamed of myself.
I have but just entered the third volume of Smollett,
though I had designed to have got half through it by this
time. I have determined this week to be more diligent, as
Mr. Thaxter will be absent at court, and I can not pursue my
other studies
JQA to Father John
I have set myself a stint, and determine to read the
third volume half out. If I can but keep my resolution I
will write again at the end of the week, and give a
better account of myself. I wish, sir, you would give me
some instructions with regard to my time, and advise
me how to proportion my studies and my play, in
writing, and I will keep them by me and endeavor to
follow them. I am, dear sir, with a present
determination of growing better,
Yours, John Quincy
Adams
“P.S.—Sir, if you will be so good as to favor me with a
blank-book I will transcribe the most remarkable
occurrences I meet with in my reading, which will
serve to fix them upon my mind.”
Hall, V. M. (1976). The Christian history of the American Revolution: consider and
ponder (pp. 605606). San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education.
“It should be your care therefore,
and mine, to elevate the minds of
our children, and exalt their
courage, to accelerate and
animate their industry and activity,
to excite in them an habitual
contempt of meanness, abhorrence
of injustice and inhumanity, and an
ambition to excel in every capacity,
faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their
minds to grovel and creep in
infancy, they will grovel and creep
all their lives.”
Hall, V. M. (1976). The Christian history of the American
Revolution: consider and ponder (p. 606). San Francisco:
Foundation for American Christian Education.
John Adams
ABIGAIL TO JQA
AGE 11
“Great learning and
superior abilities
should you ever
possess them, will be
of little value an small
estimation, unless
virtue, honor truth,
and integrity are
added to them.
“Adhere to those
religious sentiments
and principles which
were early instilled in
your mind and
remember, that you
are accountable to
your Maker for all your
words and actions.”
Assignment
Set some new goals for your personal
scholarship and for your
students/children.
Second
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA
OF MAN AND GOVERNMENT
CHOC, PP 1-2
Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the
Republic of the United States 1910
ASSIGNMENT
With your buzz partner, make a
simple chart on paper and pull the
phrases from Frothingham that
describe the pagan view of man
and the Christian view of man
(5 MINUTES)
Pagan vs. Christian
Pagan
1.
2.
3.
Christian
1.
2.
3.
Third
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
PROPERTY
John Locke
Recommended Biography
Property
“I
am God’s property, He fashioned me to be, An
image for His glory, Almighty Father He”
I Cor. 6:20; We are His workmanship. I Cor. 4:2
p. 225 Blackstone: “Necessity begat property”; CHOC PP
139-141 “law of nature”
p. 228 Madison: “Conscience is the most sacred property.”
P. 229: Locke: “Consent is one’s title to conscience.”
P. 237: Declaration: Government does not give men rights.
Buzz:
REVIEW:
What is the “title” to conscience?
What are the two types of CONSENT and
the implication to teaching and
learning?
Who gives men “rights”?
Fourth
THE ‘POWERS’ OF GOVERNMENT
Baron de Montesquieu
Spirit of Laws
CHOC p. 27 “Christianity is a stranger to
despotic power.”
CHOC P. 134--139 SPIRIT OF LAWS 1748
Architecture of Christian Self-government:
The Principle of Representation
The Separation of Powers
The Dual Form of our Government
Think and Discuss
1. What are the three powers of
government we all were given?
2. How does the habitual, thoughtful
exercise of ALL three powers promote
and support self-government?
3. How can teachers and parents foster
Christian self-government by enabling
and moderating a “balance” of
powers?
5 minutes
Fifth
THE METHOD OF BIBLICAL
REASONING
Think, defined
Thinking, v. Having ideas;
supposing; judging; imagining;
intending; meditating. Having the
faculty of thought; cogitative:
capable of a regular train of ideas.
Man is a thinking being.
THE FOUR R’S OF
ELICITING
GOVERNMENTAL
THINKING IN THE
CLASSROOM
CHART – Hand-out available
Buzz
Look over the hand-out
and discuss how it might be
useful to you.
Last Word: Rosalie Slater
• Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History:
the Principle Approach
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